Everything outside the Sistine Chapel is, now, pure conjecture and everything inside is up to the cardinals and the Holy Spirit, writes NCR's Michael Sean Winters.
The cardinals will elect a person next week, not a platform. So, while they are discussing issues facing the church and the world, they are also assessing each other's personalities and character.
The next pope must, like Pope Francis, recognize the great sin of indifference in our time, and relentlessly give voice to those who do not matter in the eyes of high finance or power politics.
The next pope will need to be a spiritual leader who is himself unafraid, and offers Christians — and all people of good — hope in the face of fear, writes columnist Dan Horan.
More than anything, the church needs a pastor like Pope Francis who is committed to the synodal process to keep the balance between renewal and the wellsprings of tradition, says NCR columnist Michael Sean Winters.
The axiom "he who enters the conclave a pope, leaves a cardinal" is as wrong as it is ubiquitous. TV commentators repeat it ad nauseam. A review of the last century of conclaves illustrates why it is wrong, and much else!
The cardinals will want to find a new pope committed to Francis' vision of a church. The real question is whether the majority will want someone who is charismatic like Francis, or someone who is more of a manager.
In the span of about 12 hours, the St. Peter's Square went from bursting at the seams with nearly 250,000 people crammed in for a papal funeral to peacefully quiet.
